CHAPTER 70: THE COMPOSITION OF THE TOURNAMENT

Laysa didn’t come in the next few days, which was quite strange considering how all the people around him told Sheva that he had to be ready for her pestering him around for another game. Still, Sheva didn’t mind the peaceful atmosphere without the girl around. He spent most of his time studying now, getting pumped up after miraculously beating Laysa during their last game.

Yeah, he said that it was miraculous. After all, Sheva knew it was him who was pushed to the edge of the cliff at the beginning of the game. The boy only managed to turn the tables around after she tilted, making a lot of inaccurate moves that basically handed all of her advantages to him. However, the boy knew that it was just a one-time thing as Laysa herself wasn’t playing seriously, and the next time they met, the girl would go all-out with the intention to kill.

’First Master Irfan, then Anna, and now Laysa...’ He clenched his fist unconsciously. ’Sure enough, all the titled players are good. I need to improve my rating as soon as possible! Come on! Start with this Jakarta Chess Festival! Let’s dominate the entire section again!’ He tried to motivate himself.

It was a day before the tournament began, and everyone gathered in Irfan’s house once again for the last briefing. Even though, as a local, they wouldn’t have a problem going straight to the venue by themselves, it was still important to remind all the players here about the rules of the tournament.

Sheva was also there, sitting next to Bagas, who was holding a camera. It seemed that he really got into this PR role, ensuring everyone that he would take a record of everything. What surprised Sheva the most, though, was that in front of him, Anna, Claudia, and Sarah sat together, chatting and laughing casually as if they were not in a chess club.

"Oi, Gas!" Sheva hissed lowly. "What is your girlfriend doing here?" He asked.

"Oh, her?" Bagas replied nonchalantly, not even bothering to turn around at his best friend. "Well, she is here just like me. We are both going to be the hosts for the ’Black Rook’ channel in the tournament tomorrow.’ He said casually as if they were talking about the weather. However, Sheva, who heard that, was dumbfounded, too speechless to make a comment.

"What the—" He stopped himself before a curse came out of his mouth. "How in the hell did this happen?! Does she even know how to play chess? Also, does Master Irfan know about that?"

Bagas was quiet for a moment before he finally heaved out a defeated sigh. "Let’s just say that she brought a good argument that Master Irfan couldn’t deny, and just leave it like that." He said it wryly.

Sheva himself felt the corner of his mouth twitch once again, feeling speechless about the girl. However, if there was one thing he knew about Sarah, it was that she was scarier in mind and resourceful compared to Bagas. Fortunately, she didn’t want to be a politician, or the entire city would succumb under her feet.

"Okay, everyone! Enough chatting! Let’s get straight to the business!" Irfan raised his voice, gaining all the people’s attention. "The tournament will be held in KONI’s office on the fourth floor at 8 A.M. Don’t you dare arrive late, okay?!"

Everyone nodded quickly, showing that they understood this. KONI itself was the organization that ensured Indonesia’s participation in almost all the sports events abroad. This was just like the National Olympic Committee in the other countries, and that was why this tournament would be held there.

Irfan also talked a little bit more about some trivial matters, such as the basic rules, like to wear a formal outfit, never wear a watch or bring a phone to the venue, bringing their own board and clock, something that should’ve been known by all the players at this point. He just wanted to remind most of the members here who hadn’t played in an official tournament of the basic rules of it.

However, not even a single soul cared about that right now. No, everyone was waiting for Irfan to announce the composition of the tournament. Fortunately, the man noticed that too, as he didn’t let people wait for too long. No, right after that, he turned on the LCD projector in the room, sharing what was on the screen in his laptop to everyone there.

Jakarta Chess International Festival – GM Section.

Susanto Megaranto – Indonesia – 2529

Suleymanli Aydin – Azerbaijan – 2525

Li Tian Yeoh – Malaysia – 2523

Vitaly Sivuk – Ukraine – 2519

Priasmoro Novendra – Indonesia – 2501

Akash Ganesan – Indian – 2495

Yoseph Theolifus Taher – Indonesia – 2463

Irfan Aditya – Indonesia – 2449

Azarya Jodi Setyaki – Indonesia – 2404

Anna Marisa – Indonesia – 2331

Everyone gasped at this crazy lineup. After all, this was probably the first time Indonesia would hold a tournament with this many grandmasters. Hell, the grandmasters they brought themselves weren’t the cannon fodder type that had already started to lose their edges.

There were a lot of top players like Suleymanli Aydin, the Azerbaijan youngster who won the World Youth Chess Championship U14 in 2019, or Vitaly Sivuk, the Ukrainian grandmaster who had been playing around Asia in the last couple of years. There was also Li Tian Yeoh, an International Master from the rival country Malaysia, who should’ve been a grandmaster by rating, but only needed one norm away from being one. This would be his chance to get his final norm and make history to become Malaysia’s first grandmaster ever.

Five grandmasters, three International Masters, and one Women’s Grandmaster. Even though no one said it out loud, all the people in the room knew exactly one thing. This tournament would be a blast, and even though they didn’t have any chance to play in the highest section, somehow, they got excited when they thought that one of them, Anna Marisa, would also be there.

Sheva himself clenched his fist unconsciously, feeling unwilling to be left out of the fun. He didn’t say anything, but inwardly, the boy made a promise to himself.

’Before the year is over, I have to be there too, standing at the highest tournament in the country! Come on!’